Drink Upstream

You knew it was coming...

...maybe you weren't slow on the uptake like me, and already knew it was here.

Link: Google Calendar.

Blogger Web Comments for Firefox

Adam posted a comment to an earlier post.  I don't know Adam from....wait...erm...Eve? I responded to his comment via email, and also asked how he happened upon my post.  He sent the link below.

It rocks.  Check it out.

Link: Blogger Web Comments for Firefox.

Customers, Apples, and Windows

For those of you who aren't yet geeky enough to know, Robert X. Cringely writes the geek's version of the tabloid gossip column.  He follows the computing industry very closely and has connections all over the place.  This week's column is about Windows on Mac hardware, and has some even more surprising speculation.  A good read (link at the bottom of this post.)

I want to address just one thing from his column (which really isn't about what I'm talking about at all):

Cringely paraphrases Dave Winer as saying that the job of a software developer is to say 'Yes' to customers, adding features and capabilities as needed to please them. 

I wish my job as a developer were that simple!  The biggest challenge of a software developer is never simply providing the features and capabilities your users need - in fact, that's almost always the easy part.  The biggest challenge is almost always figuring out what they need.

Imagine for a moment that you are a developer working on the very first spreadsheet ever written.  A user tells you that he needs to be able to add 1 to every entry in the spreadsheet.  You very quickly add a menu pick that says "Add 1 to every entry."  Obviously, this meets your user's immediate need.  But what about when they need to add 2 to every entry?  Or when they need to add 1 to all of the entries in a single column?  Or all of the entries in a given row?

Good developers jump off of cliffs in order to implement the features their users ask for.

Great developers understand that a request for a feature from a user almost always only involves what they need right now.  Great developers look for what users will need to do six months from now.  Great developers understand that a request from a user is almost always symptomic of a larger need than that user understands right at this moment.

Link: PBS | I, Cringely . April 20, 2006 - Native Speaker.

Is Anybody Listening?

Link: Springwise: Fresh, fast, food.

If one of these were in the same parking lot as the Wendy's that happens to share a parking lot with my gym, I would be in MUCH better shape.

I'd love to eat healthy.  My penchant for fast food isn't about actually liking fast food, it's because, well, it's fast.  If I could get healthy food that were equally as convienient, I'd be willing to pay a premium for it.

Rilke on Education

An interesting (at leaset to me) conversation starting over at A Karaoke Supernova: Rilke on Education.

be afraid, be very afraid

From Schneier on Security: Cubicle Farms are a Terrorism Risk

Open-plan offices are increasingly popular as businesses seek to improve communication and cooperation between employees. But MI5 points out that there are potential risks, too. "If you are converting your building to open-plan accommodation, remember that the removal of internal walls reduces protection against blast and fragments," the leaflet says.

I hate cubicles.  I despise them.  Don't get me started on them over a beer - I'd never finish ranting.

Now MI5 is on my side too!

pond turns into lake

From Damn Interesting:

Meanwhile, up on the surface, the tremendous sucking power of the whirlpool was causing violent destruction. It swallowed another nearby drilling platform whole, as well as a barge loading dock, 70 acres of soil from Jefferson Island, trucks, trees, structures, and a parking lot. The sucking force was so strong that it reversed the flow of a 12-mile-long canal which led out to the Gulf of Mexico, and dragged 11 barges from that canal into the swirling vortex, where they disappeared into the flooded mines below. It also overtook a manned tug on the canal, which struggled against the current for as long as possible before the crew had to leap off onto the canal bank and watch as the lake consumed their boat.

Aren't we all glad we weren't the engineers working that project.